Heroine’s disappearence a mystery 76 years on

It has long been held as one of the great mysteries from the golden age of aviation.

It was 76 years ago this week one of Britain’s most celebrated heroines, a record breaker and headline maker, flew out of Blackpool never to be seen again.

The disappearance of Amy Johnson in January 1941 has been shrouded in secrecy for decades – rumours abounding that the celebrity aviator had been shot down by friendly fire, her death subject of a wartime cover up.

That, says historian Alec Gill, is highly unlikely.

He believes Amy’s bravado and sense of duty, combined with bad weather and bad luck led to a tragic accident.

The world famous aviator, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, had been warned against flying on the morning she left Squires Gate.

A first officer in the Air Transport Auxiliary, Amy was ferrying an Airspeed Oxford from Prestwick near Glasgow to Kidlington in Oxfordshire.

She had stopped overnight in Blackpool and stayed with her sister Mollie who lived in Newton Drive and was married to a Blackpool town clerk.

“That winter was a particularly bad one,” said Alec, a former lecturer at the University of Hull - Johnson’s home town by birth.

“There was freezing fog – the conditions were very bad.

“Mollie said Amy should stay another night. The airfield told her not to fly.